Want to improve your sex life? Eat this, not that

Planning a romantic evening? You might think a juicy steak, a good bottle of wine and some chocolate will set the stage. But you’d be wrong.

By Jennifer Nelson

Planning a romantic evening? You might think a juicy steak, a good bottle of wine and some chocolate will set the stage. But you’d be wrong.

Saturated fats from meats, alcohol and chocolate are the exact things you’ll want to avoid for good sex. Each is filled with chemicals and stimulants that have the opposite effect on libido and performance.

“If the body is spending its time and energy cleaning itself constantly from these chemicals we put in it, it cannot begin to perform at its peak sexually,” says Brian Clement, the co-director of the Hippocrates Health Institute in West Palm Beach, Fla., and co-author with his wife of “7 Keys to Lifelong Sexual Vitality.”

“One-third of young marrieds have fertility problems today and instead of seeing men with performance problems at age 70, the way we did a few decades ago, we now see it at age 40,” says Clement.

“Almost everyone we see here at the institute asks about their sexual health,” says Anna Maria Clement, part of the husband-wife duo and co-director at Hippocrates, a leading institute in natural and complementary healthcare.

The Clements attribute heavy metals, air pollution, food toxins, pesticides, fungicides, herbicides and soda consumption for contaminating and weakening the cell systems in the body leading to sexual libido and performance issues in both men and women.

What can you do to improve your sexual health naturally? Throw out old myths about aphrodisiacs, as we’ve been accustomed to thinking of them. Named for Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of sex and beauty, these include an array of foods like oysters and chocolate, the fatty acids of which negatively affect organs like the liver and gallbladder.

Also skip:

Bacon, sausage and other fatty meats, which contain high levels of saturated fats and cholesterol, which clog the penal and vaginal arteries since they are so small and quickly collect plaque.

Dairy. Saturated fats in most cheeses are comparable to those found in fatty meats. Your worst lunch option? A bacon cheeseburger and chocolate milkshake.

Processed baked goods. Even when the products say “No Trans Fats,” chances are they’re present. Ingredients may exclude trans fats, but because of the way baked goods are processed, trans fats are often created during baking.

-Soy-based products are high in estrogen, which can lower male sex drive and increase the risk of disease and testosterone in women.

The better sex diet

To really get your blood moving, food that’s high in omega-3 fatty acids like mackerel, salmon and wild salmon are tops.

What you should reach for:

Carrots, a well-known libido enhancer, loaded with vitamin E

Green leafy veggies, which clean blood and open capillaries effectively